This invention relates to new weight-control, substantially zero-calorie compositions comprising dry mixtures of edible cellulose fibers and colloidal cellulose microfibrils, incorporated by dry mixing with a combination of natural acid-swellable gums in dry, particulate form to provide new compositions possessing a water-expandable property such as to grow at least to several times, or more, of their compressed dry volume in an aqueous acidic medium. The above mixtures, when compressed in dry powder forms into tablets and/or granular compositions are capable of swelling in the acid pH of the stomach into a firm, highly-swollen, physical mass or masses that effectively serve to provide a temporary reduction of the appetite by mechanical rather than systemic action while proViding up to at least 10 percent of the normal, average, daily requirements of natural fiber.
The medical literature provides abundant evidence that the excessive intake of food and overweightness constitute a serious health problem. Calorie intake above an individual's needs as a result of the excessive consumption of foods damages the heart and the circulatory system, particularly in the case of aged persons, pregnant women, and people suffering from diabetes. Recently, the use of appetite-reducing medicaments has become widespread. However, such drugs act as stimulants to the central nervous system and also to habituation. The side effects of such systemic drugs to control weight have become so serious in recent time that they have come under FDA control. Amphetamines, for example, can no longer be used for weight control except by prescription under a physician's control; they have been removed from over-the-counter sales. Numerous neurological side effects have been noted from the use of other systemic drugs in diet products containing N-propanolamine or its analogs.
Recently a number of attempts have been made to solve this problem by the administration of compositions containing indigestible substances. The use of these compositions leads to the feeling of fullness without causing weight increase. The following additives have been suggested: casein (British Pat. No. 990,523); mixtures of egg-albumin, casein, cellulose-ether, guar gum, agar pectin, carrageenan, and sodium alginate (British Pat. No. 993,308); guar gum (British Pat. Nos. 1,041,600 and 1,106,882); a mixture of soluble polyglucose citrate and insoluble polyglucose (British Pat. No. 1,182,961); microcrystalline cellulose (U.S. Pat. No. 3,023,104); a mixture of 50% of gluten flour, 1-10% of vegetable gums, and 50% of microcrystalline cellulose, peanut-shell, or wood-flour (U.S. Pat. No. 3,023,104); edible cheese (DAS No. 1,442,021); and 5-30% of finely dispersed pure cellulose (DAS No. 1,959,196).
Special dry cakes for diabetic people have also been described, prepared from 100% of soya flour and 30-50% of protein (DAS No. 2,060,797). None of the above products meets in a satisfactory manner the requirements of efficacious expandability, pleasant and permanent consumption, good taste, and easy absorption from the intestinal tract.
Many efforts have been made to use conventional fibrous cellulose as a bulking agent in low-calorie food compositions and in pharmaceuticals. Fibrous cellulose has the advantage, in addition to providing desirable dietary fiber, of providing desired bulk without calories. However, principal effects of this material has been its obJectionable texture, lack of significant expansion, and severe restrictions by reduced flowability required for economical, high-speed, tableting manufacture. This characteristic has greatly limited the use of fibrous cellulose both in the field of food technology and in the field of pharmaceutical preparations. When fibrous cellulose has been mixed according to conventional methods with other good ingredients, the fibrous cellulose is usually very noticeable to the taste, is not smooth, has a fibrous or chalky or gritty feel to the tongue and mouth when chewed, and tends to accumulate as an insoluble or residual material in the mouth. As a result, the food compositions themselves have tended to be rendered unpalatable by the addition of fibrous cellulose. Reduction of fibrous cellulose content of such compositions to the point where it is not detectable in the mouth has effectively reduced the proportion of fibrous cellulose to the point where it has no longer been effective as a bulking agent or as a source of significant dietary fiber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,042,719 disperses fibrous carbohydrates in a solution of cellulose ethers, subsequently drying the gelled mixture up to temperatures as high as 300.degree. C. to increase palatability by masking the fibrous taste of the fibrous carbohydrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,682 discloses foamed, crosslinked gelatins (10-50%) blended with fibrous celluloses, 30-35% alpha cellulose and 15-20% microcrystalline cellulose, which expand in gastric Juice to a gelatinous mass at least 3 times its original volume. Expandability is derived primarily by the compressed, foamed gelatin swelling when ingested and upon coming into contact with the highly acidic gastric Juice in the stomach This process requires prefoaming and drying of the foamed gelatin prior to blending with other ingredients. It produces a very low, bulk-density, tablet precursor which leads to difficulties in producing tablets on high-speed tableting machines.